By IANS,
Kyoto : Jyoti Randhawa was unable to recover from a poor start and ended with a five-over 76 that saw him slide out of top-10 and finish tied 16th at the end of the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open here Sunday.
Randhawa ended with a four day total of two-over 286. India’s other challenger Gaganjeet Bhullar improved on his third day’s 79 by shooting a 74 and finished tied 51st at 10-over 294. Randhawa picked up $16,422 and Bhullar $7,370 for the week’s work.
Japan’s Daisuke Maruyama ended a four-year title drought with a four-stroke triumph as he battled to a three-over-par 74 for a total of eight-under-par 276 in tough conditions at the Joyo Country Club. He beat China’s Liang Wen-chong, Korea’s Kim Kyung-tae and countryman Yuta Ikeda in the $1.5 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
Randhawa said: “It was tough today. The pins were difficult and there was no way we could get to those pins. The harder you try, the more bogeys you’ll make. Pins were on slopes and it was down to luck.”
Talking of his round Sunday, he added: “I hit it out of bounds on the first hole but after that, all day I couldn’t get to the flags. I’m still not 100 percent sure of my game. I haven’t been able to play four good rounds together. I’m going to the Dunhill Links next week and will stay on in Europe for the next few weeks.”
It was Maruyama’s first victory since the 2005 Fuji Sankei Classic and it also earned him an exemption into the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai in November which world number one Tiger Woods and Asia’s first Major champion Yang Yong-eun will headline.
Maruyama’s win earned him a cheque of $320,444 and a two-year’s exemption on the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
Liang, Asia’s number one in 2007, settled for his career eighth top-three finish in Japan after closing with a 73. He briefly moved to within three shots of Maruyama with a birdie on nine but three bogeys over his next four holes derailed his title hopes.
Japanese star Ryo Ishiakawa birdied his closing two holes for a 72 and finished in tied 16th position on 286.